Denticle and Fingernail
by Jet556
Summary: Jekyll and Hyde inspired. When the Norrisville Authorities need aid following an abominable attacker, the Ninja comes to their aid. But even he's at a loss when he finds twain foils when there should be a lone. The would-be homicide is twain discrete human beings in a distinct anatomy, and that betokens agitation for the Ninja.
1. Account of the Doorway

**Welcome everyone. Now, this story will be longer than the previous two. In fact it will be ten chapters long. Since "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a novella it makes sense to not have the story be a long one. This Stevenson story happens to be one of my all time favorite books, so I'll be putting my heart into it while featuring references to the adaptations I've seen and one that is unfortunately lost. Enjoy and review.**

 **Account of the Doorway**

It was a sunny day in Norrisville. A good day for a walk and so it was that Randy Cunningham walked with Ken Finlayson, Howard Weinerman having been home sick. Ken was not the person Randy would have preferred to walk with but he was what he was.

"And I told Niall that if he dared to give me a bust of Janus for my birthday then our friendship would be over! It was most alarming, I was personally appalled by sight of it."

"Really, Ken?" asked Randy, his voice filled with disbelief. "You of all people appalled by the sight of something?"

Ken rolled his eyes. He wasn't the handsomest of people and he certainly couldn't be called average looking but he hated to think that he was not aloud to admit there was something even uglier in existence than himself who was more misshapen than the mythological Man in the Moon.

"I have no desire to bring about a tragedy on the border of reality that could transform me into a two-faced man! The very head of Janus himself would be the cause of it!"

"Who is this Janus anyway?"

"An archaic Italian creator, caretaker of doorways and barriers and bodyguard of the confederation in time of attack. He is commonly limned with two fronts, so that he looks both forward and backward." Ken stopped and pointed at the side door of the Warburton house. "Speaking of doorways, what do you know about that one?"

"Just that is a part of the Warburton house." Replied Randy. "I don't know where it leads though. Why?"

"I have an account about that doorway." Stated Ken.

Randy sighed and slumped a little. "I'm sure you do. Have you told Heidi?"

"No. I haven't told her, I haven't told Kang I haven't told anyone. It happened just last night. I was going for a walk which is very out of character for me because I never go for walks after sunset."

"I'm sure." Commented Randy. He didn't believe for one moment that Ken didn't go for walks after sunset.

"As I went for a walk, I saw a kid playing on the sidewalk."

"A kid?"

"Yes, a little girl. Her dad was sitting on the porch reading by the lamplight while she drew with chalk. Nothing to encourage incubi, just the normal stuff."

Randy's eyes only widened. "What kind of things do you usually see little kids draw?"

"Normal stuff!" insisted Ken. To Randy's thinking, Ken might have been the kind of kid who would have drawn things to fuel nightmares. "Anyway, coming in the opposite direction was this… Thing!"

"Thing?" asked Randy.

"Yes, thing!" Ken rubbed hic chin while thinking of a way to describe what he had seen. "Looked like a seven year old, a really short one. It must have been half Niall's height!"

"But Niall is four foot nine!" exclaimed Randy.

"Yes, isn't that an oddity in my story." Commented Ken. "Oh, it was quite ghastly! He looked simian and pilose with big canine denticles."

"Oh, so it is a he is it?" asked Randy.

"Yes, it is." Stated Ken. "He looked like his mother might have had relations with an ape if you catch my meaning."

"I do and I am disturbed." Commented Randy. "So what exactly did your mom have relations with to create you?"

"Oh, shut up!" Ken hit Randy on the backside of the head. "Carrying on, the boy trampled the little girl."

"How?"

"What?"

"How did he trample the little girl if he was half Niall's height?" asked Randy.

Ken swallowed. "Lets change his height to three feet!"

Randy rolled his eyes. "I had a feeling you were exaggerating."

"Yes, well he trampled the girl, he then ran past me, I followed and before going through that doorway he said no one shall ever catch an O'Connor."

"He went through the door?" asked Randy.

Ken nodded. "Yes, he had a key."

Sighing, Randy shook his head. "Ken, your head seems to be all over the place today and not feeling very creative either when it comes to your storytelling."

"Eh?" Randy pointed across the street. Ken followed Randy's finger and saw a park called O'Connor. "How's that for coincidence."

"I am going home, Ken." Randy turned around and walked away. Ken would have been better off finding someone else to tell tall tales to.


	2. Waiting for O'Connor

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 **Waiting for O'Connor**

Ken knew what he had seen. He knew what he had heard. And thus to prove himself right, he waited all day for O'Connor to return to the doorway in the side of by the time the young O'Connor did arrive, the night had very much come.

But it was the waiting itself that had driven Ken mad. Usually quite patient, Ken found himself deeply affected by not being believed when he was telling the truth. In no way had he been crying wolf. His entire story of the night before had been true and he would prove it!

The hours had been long for him, especially since a second could feel like an hour for him. To get through these long hours he planned his web miniseries: "Crossing to the Unexplained." It was nothing really and he doubted anyone would be watching but he would be doing it for the art. If Heidi could do something like that then how hard could it be?

He then thought about his throwing axe collection. He owned a Francisca, a hurlbat, a keteriya, a whole set of Mambele, an Nzappa zap and, of course, his prized tomahawk. Who was there to really talk about stuff like that? Who was there that collected throwing axes? Just him. He was odd.

By the time the young O'Connor had arrived, Ken was contemplating taking mental health days from school. Thankfully, it was the arrival of the young O'Connor.

"I've been waiting for you!" exclaimed Ken, intending to make himself known to the kid.

"I was expecting as much, Ken." Replied the young O'Connor.

"You know my name?"

"Yes, and a lot of other things, like you were born in Morocco on January twenty-third."

Ken had not given his date or place of birth to that many. Only two people in Norrisville knew either of those things. One was Heidi Weinerman, whom Ken was infatuated with and thus was someone Ken was comfortable telling these sort of things too and he did indeed have trouble telling people the littlest things about himself. The other was Niall Warburton, his surrogate younger brother.

And that was what clued Ken in. The moment his eyes widened in realization, the young O'Connor entered the doorway and quickly locked the door. This was going to make things somewhat easier for Ken.


	3. Niall Warburton Was Absolutely Calm

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 **Niall Warburton Was Absolutely Calm**

The following day, like a public speaker of old in a town square, Ken spoke to all those who would hear him. There had to be some five people there. Randy, Howard, Heidi, Bash and Debbie were the ones and all of them listening for various reasons.

Randy and Howard listened to Ken, wondering whether or not mind-wiping him for his speaking would cause Randy to be guilty of conduct unbecoming the Ninja. Well, it was more Randy than Howard. Howard just wanted to see Ken mind-wiped.

For Heidi, it was out of fear that Ken was descending into insanity. But really who could tell with Ken? He seemed to be both sane and insane yet neither. So it was that Heidi feared her friend was becoming insane with what he was speaking.

For Bash, due to his stupidity, he thought it was some sort of story.

As for Debbie, she already had reason enough to not like Ken but slandering Niall Warburton was another reason for her to not like him.

"Niall Warburton has become a threat to us all! We must barge into his house and destroy the head of Janus! If we do not, he shall continue to become this O'Connor beast and do more than trampling little kids! How long until her turns to slaying and peculation? The head of Janus must be destroyed! It must! It must! It must!"

It was at that point that everyone but Heidi got bored with Ken's nonsense. Leaving him to carry on, apparently having not noticed that he was only talking to Heidi now, Ken's speaking turned into less talking about how the head of Janus had to be destroyed and how long until O'Connor attempted to kill him.

"Ken, darling, do you think you're getting a bit wound up?" asked Heidi, very slowly. When she said "darling" it was because she was afraid if she said the wrong word she might send Ken into insanity for sure.

Upon realizing that Heidi was the only one left, Ken finally began to calm down. Removing his bowler hat Ken grabbed his water bottle, put some water onto the flipper of a right hand he had and then brought it to the top of his snow-white hair.

"Maybe." He took a breath and walked over to Heidi. "Actually, where is Niall? Was he not here?"

"No, he is actually hosting an auction in the cafeteria."

"Oh, really? I wonder how he is taking this whole turning into a monster thing."

"The same as anyone in this town who has, I suppose." Commented Heidi.

"And if he is indeed holding an auction then maybe I finally have my chance to get my hands on Niall's first edition copy of 'The Black Stallion' by Walter Farley." Ken wasn't even a fan of Walter Farley's work. The only reason he wanted Niall's copy was because it was a first edition. It was just hearing that there was an auction that caused Ken to go running from the steps of the school to the cafeteria.

To his utter surprise, there were only six people attending the auction. Bucky, Theresa, Slimovitz, Driscoll and Green were the people and they did not look impressed by what they were seeing Niall auctioning.

It was the head of Janus. Quite an ugly thing and Niall Warburton was absolutely calm as he stood there.

Upon seeing what was being auctioned, Ken fainted. When he regained consciousness, he found to his great surprise that everyone had just left him were he had fallen. Bad enough being deformed but apparently his deformity being to the point that nobody even sought to aid him to regain consciousness. It didn't even make any sense! His hands, his face, his seldom seen third nipple… He wasn't that deformed and yet everyone treated him as if he was.

Of course, it should be noted that Ken was only unconscious for a minute. Everything he was feeling at the moment was some form of… Whatever he was feeling. With Ken determining his feelings would have needed the aid of a scholar, a psychiatrist and a great mathematician that was also a goat named Aristotle. Don't ask why. It simply would.

In that one minute, the following happened. Bucky bought the head of Janus and then Niall bought it back. Well, so much for goodbye O'Connor.


	4. The Attempted Slaying of Ken Finlayson

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 **The Attempted Slaying of Ken Finlayson**

Walking home, Ken talked to Heidi over the phone. It had come to his attention that he was in Norrisville somewhere in New England and not Norrisville, New York. Even the town's inhabitants weren't sure of what part of New England they were in.

"How could nobody have told me that this wasn't Norrisville, New York?" asked Ken. "You couldn't have corrected me? Not once?"

"How could any of us correct you when we aren't even sure what part of New England we're in?" asked Heidi.

"You could have just said that we were in Norrisville, New England!"

"New England is a region, not a state!"

"I know that!" Ken brought his left hand to his face. "At least, I never called this place Morrisville. There is only a thousand towns with that name across the English speaking world with three hundred of them being in the region of New England and two of them being in the state of New York!"

"T-That would have been unfortunate." Said Heidi, trying to wrap her head around the fact that there were a thousand towns by the name of Morrisville. "And wait a minute, is the New York Norrisville more well known than ours?"

"I don't know…" Ken's attention had been attracted to a sound. It sounded most barbaric! "The only Norrisville I ever heard of was the New York one so maybe." The sound was getting closer.

"So have you calmed down since earlier today?" asked Heidi.

"Lets define the phrase 'calmed down.'"

"Are you feeling less antagonistic towards Niall?"

"No, I am not."

"Can you please listen to reason? A bust that can turn someone into a monster seems rather farfetched. Are you going to start saying everyone has ever turned into a monster has a head of Janus?"

It was at that point that Ken stopped walking. Now that was quite a thought. "Maybe. Why? How many people do you know that have one?"

"Just Niall! Now what do you think?"

"I think it's inbreeding!"

There was a moment of awkward silence. Ultimately Heidi responded with "What?"

"Sorry, that's my default response to that question."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I just do." Ken's eyes then spied O'Connor approaching. He seemed to have grown a couple of feet and was looking both older and more monstrous in appearance. Well, that was quick. "I'll call you back, Heidi. I've got Niall's Edward Hyde approaching."

"Wait, what? Ken—" Heidi never got any farther. She might not have believed the bit about Niall and the young O'Connor being one and the same, she didn't even believe there was an O'Connor but if there was a monster approaching him then Ken was in danger.

To Ken however, there was no concern about the danger he was in. If he died then so be it. At least there would be a search for his slayer. At least there would be justice.

Yet Ken survived. Although O'Connor believed he had slew Ken, spilling his brains like yolk from an egg, Ken did live. He was but wounded. With his return to consciousness, facing one of the greatest of medical doctors in Norrisville, Ken knew his soul had lain on the threshold of Death's door.

Also present in his hospital room, were some five Norrisville policemen. At the sight of them, Ken merely laughed.

"What a fool, I am. Thinking I'd ever get justice from you incompetence. You didn't find O'Connor did you? You didn't find he who will be shocked to see me living? And why won't he be? We who are descended from Causantin mac Cinaeda do not die so easily." Ken's arrogance was showing. It was rare but it happened. Arrogance was one of Ken's least likable traits. "Have you gotten the Ninja phone or the Ninja Signal going to call the Ninja for aid?" The cops only stared at each other. Ninja phone? Ninja signal? The former would have been no good since they weren't even sure what the Ninja's number was. As for the latter, how could they have never thought of that? If it worked for Batman then surely it would have worked for the Ninja! "There is neither is there…" The cops were forced to nod. "I'm sure this wouldn't have happened if I was living in Norrisville, New York. No one is even here to check on me. My parents are in Egypt, my brother is in Outer Mongolia…" And then Ken switched from a moment of arrogance to a moment of angst… Or at least what he considered angst. "When I've healed I'm probably not going to look any different! Or if I do I'm people will think that the scar is an improvement."

It was around that moment that the Ninja smoke bombed in. Upon seeing Ken, the Ninja brought a hand to his face. "Ah, wonk. What did you bring down upon Norrisville this time?" It had been one time and they had taken care of it before there had been any injury. Why was the Ninja acting like Ken had brought the Death Bat down on Norrisville this time?


	5. Adventure of the Epistle

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 **Adventure of the Epistle**

When the Ninja had returned he returned not successful. And why should he have? He had informed Ken that he had found two scents. One smelling like cinnamon and the other like black licorice, which as anyone knows is a most disgusting thing to smell let alone taste. By this time, the police were gone.

This only left Ken confused. He had believed there would have been a difference in scents but he had not expected the Ninja to know anything about these scents.

"Cinnamon and black licorice? What are you?" asked Ken.

"I'm human, just like you." Replied the Ninja.

"I'm not sure about that." Commented Ken. It was like the ninja was part dog or something! And then it occurred to Ken that this was perfect. If the Ninja could detect scents then no doubt he could prove this whole thing was true! "Did you follow the scents?"

"Yes."

"And where did it lead to?"

"I think you know where it lead to."

"Yes but I want to hear you say it."

"Why?"

"Because I know you. You don't even bother to change your voice and your eye color makes it even more obvious. You think me a teller of tall tales, a lunatic, am I missing anything else?" Ken's response caused the Ninja's eyes to widen. He had known this long and didn't feel like saying anything until now? "By the way, Howard was not a convincing Ninja. I kept expecting him to turn villain."

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Randy. "Why didn't you try to reveal who I was like Debbie?"

"Because you have a right to privacy. What masked hero would ever want his enemies to know who he really was? Be Zorro, be the Phantom, be the Shadow just don't be Tarzan."

Randy just nodded. "Okay, I'll going… Wait, how did you know it was Howard that time?"

"His voice and really he is the only person I know with such a girth."

"What? How? Never mind! I'm outta here! Smoke bomb!"

"No! Not in here!" Ken was too late. By the time he had spoken Randy had smoke bombed out leaving a horrid smell in his hospital room. He was going to kill Randy for this. Not literally though. Killing the town hero would be bad for him.

Once he was out of the hospital, Ken found an epistle waiting for him in his mailbox. It was odd that it was not sent to him via e-mail. On the other hand, nobody knew his e-mail except for Heidi. He didn't even let Niall, his surrogate younger brother know his e-mail. This only begged the question, whom would be sending him a letter? He had never received a letter from anyone in his life. If it was from Randy, he seriously hoped it wasn't some sort of invitation to become the sidekick of his sidekick who was Howard!

To his surprise, it was from Niall. An apology no doubt!

 _Dear, Ken._

 _I am so sorry about my friend Hans O'Connor attacking you. I have cut all ties with him. He will not trouble anyone ever again._

 _Your brother of the heart,_

 _Niall Warburton._

Ken merely walked to the Warburton house. Once inside allowed inside, Ken looked at Niall's bedroom all the while Niall smiled. The head of Janus was nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for something, Ken?" asked Niall.

"Where is the head?" asked Ken.

"Gone."

"Gone where?"

"Just gone."

Ken was not convinced. And yet the head was nowhere to be seen. He'd give it a week. He did not see O'Connor in that time then he would be convinced.


	6. Wondrous Adventure of Howard Weinerman

**Welcome back everyone. When I use the word "Adventure" in this case it is not a literal adventure but rather an alternative to "incident." Enjoy and review.**

 **Wondrous Adventure of Howard Weinerman**

As Ken confronted Niall, Randy and Howard spoke. To Howard there was no surprise from him that Ken had figured out that Randy was the Ninja. Ken might have been crazy, at least in Howard's opinion, but he was no idiot.

"Honestly, Cunningham, do you even think?" asked Howard. "Using another voice would be helpful, we don't want a repeat of Debbie Kang."

"But Ken said that I have a right to privacy. I really don't think he'd reveal I was the Ninja." Randy was right. Ken was a lot of things but he would never breach ones privacy.

"And besides, he is right about Niall." Howard's comment caused Randy to stare. Just how did he know? "What? O'Connor appeared to me and once and turned into Niall. It was scary, sure, but it was cool."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"It is funnier that people think Ken is crazy, which he is. Anything that keeps people from thinking he isn't crazy is a good thing." Howard could be a real jerk sometimes. This was one of those times.

Rolling his eyes, Randy sighed and continued to question Howard. "Did Niall tell you anything?"

"Yeah, said he was going to get back at everyone who ever made him miserable."

"But you don't think that was really Niall talking do you?" asked Randy.

"Niall's a nice guy, he wouldn't do something like that."

"Then it must have been O'Connor speaking through him." Commented Randy.

"Must have been." Replied Howard. There was no other explanation. Niall was a person who held true to his morals he'd never go in for revenge. He was just too much of the nice guy.

"And that means the transformation might eventually become permanent!"

This only caused Howard to stare at Randy with wide eyes. "Wait a minute, when did we reach that?"

"It is the only logical conclusion!"


	7. Adventure of the Window

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review and remember what the word "Adventure" is an alternative to.**

 **Adventure of the Window**

The following day, Ken was out for a walk with Heidi. Heidi was somewhat worried about Ken's head injury but he just shrugged it of.

"Think nothing of it, Heidi. My grandpa survived having his braincase extracted from his cranium and then the attempt to chastise him to death with it. I'm more than fine."

"Wait, what?" asked Heidi, confused about that part about Ken's grandpa. "How do you survive that? How do you bash someone to death with their own brainpan?" Those don't even seem physically doable!"

"That's exactly what grandpa kept bawling." Said Ken with a reminiscent look in his eyes.

"You were there?"

"Of course I was."

This only caused Heidi to mutter: "This explains so much." It might have, it might have not. There was one thing for certain though. Witnessing something so horrible at such a young age could really mess someone up. Also considering how much of a mind screw the whole event was it was entirely possible Ken was… Well, she wasn't exactly sure what he was.

"What?" asked Ken.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Replied Heidi. "Just a silly idea hit me."

Indeed it had and while that "silly" idea hit Heidi, Ken noticed from where he was standing that O'Connor was staring at him from Niall's bedroom window. It was just his luck that that they'd end up in that neighborhood on the walk and he'd be standing in a position where he would see O'Connor staring out at him.

So, Niall had lied to him had he? Well then in that case, Ken would have to do something about that. Call the Ninja! Then he and the Ninja would make Niall pay for that lie, make him pay for that attack O'Connor was responsible for. Yes… What good was a town hero if he didn't do the job of a hero. There was a monster on the… No, O'Connor wasn't real, Niall was. O'Connor was just some nightmare dreamed up by the head of Janus. All to turn whoever possessed it into a monster!

And in the end it was his fault. Ken should have kept the head of Janus and smashed it to pieces at home.


	8. The Final Darkness

**Welcome back everyone. This was originally going to be ten chapters but I decided against it. Enjoy and review.**

 **The Final Darkness**

It was night when Ken finally reached Randy on his phone. It just begged the question why was Randy's phone turned off? Or was he talking to someone? In that case who? The only person who could be considered Randy's friend was that fat tub of lard Howard so it must have been him unless there was some other teen Randy was on regular speaking terms with.

"Hello?" asked Randy, not recognizing the number. It was only natural, Ken had never called Randy and thus Randy did not know Ken's number.

"Finally, I reach the Ninja Phone."

Upon realizing who was on the other end, Randy brought his hand to his face. "No! Do not call my phone that!"

"Too late, I'm going to."

"Where are you? Why are you even calling?"

"Because I need the aid of the Ninja."

"Why?"

"Because O'Connor is not gone, Niall has the head of Janus and if we don't destroy it—"

"The transformations will become permanent?" asked Randy.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked Ken. "You got a Ninja Computer to help you out with that?"

"No, it's the only logical conclusion!" Randy was right. It really was. Maybe Randy was the idiot Ken thought he was. "What do you want me to do? Just smoke bomb in and destroy the head of Janus?"

"Yes, if I go in and destroy it people will just add another black spot to my reputation here in Norrisville. If you smoke bomb in and destroy it, it will just be you being the hero and nobody will question it." Ken's reasoning was what it was. Ken wasn't really a bad guy but he had done some morally questionable things. And what if the head of Janus was some sort of tool of the Sorcerer to make sure that whoever held it would always become a monster regardless of how they were feeling? If so they it really was the Ninja's duty to destroy it.

"Alright then, I'll do it."

And he would indeed. As the Ninja, Randy went to the Warburton house. He found the head of Janus waiting for him in Niall's room but he found another thing too. O'Connor, looking more monstrous than the time Niall first became him, taller too. Taller than Niall! Quick had O'Connor been in the acts of evil that would make him more than he initially was. Niall's hypocrisy had kept him safe from acts of evil but O'Connor had no such hypocrisy to keep him safe.

Quicker was the Ninja in destroying the head of Janus. Before O'Connor could even strike he had smashed the bust with a chainsickle. It was thus that Niall returned to the world. It was thus that he was free. It was thus that he was safe from permanently becoming a monster, as was all people for in no more hands would the head of Janus fall. Nevermore would people turn intro creatures that lived by the law of denticle and fingernail.

 **The End**


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